


fearless.

by cursebreakker



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Universe, F/M, Horny Teenagers, I will update the tags as I go, Minor Original Character(s), Padawan Ben Solo, Padawan Rey (Star Wars), Padawans (Star Wars), Small age gap, Underage Character(s), reylocentric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 09:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30053529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cursebreakker/pseuds/cursebreakker
Summary: rey was found and brought to luke's jedi temple while being too old to begin her proper training.she'll need help from the boy she's sharing a hut with and from new, unexpected friendships.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	fearless.

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all 👋🏻
> 
> new wip, look away. this was supposed to be short and smutty, but it has grown kind of a plot so who knows how long it will be now...hopefully not that long. 
> 
> CW: the characters in this fic are teenagers and they will talk and do sexual things, all consensual of course. if that's not what you like or want to read, be warned. plus, there's a two years age gap, which means ben is 17 while rey is 15 (but they will age up in the story)

When his uncle had called him earlier into his private meeting room inside the Jedi Temple, Ben had found it strange but had long since learned to go with whatever orders Master Skywalker had for him. 

He had knocked on the door, patiently waiting for his uncle's permission to come inside. And while he was standing there in the corridor, hands behind his back, he felt not only his uncle's Force signature inside but someone else's. A bright, flickering light that made him curious as to the identity of this newcomer. 

Ben was almost positive he'd never felt that Force user around the Jedi Temple before, for some reason he thought he would have known if he did. So they must be new, whoever they were. 

Master Skywalker called from inside, "Come in." 

Pushing his curiosity aside, he opened the door and stepped inside the room. At first, he thought that the gangly teen sitting in one of the chairs before his uncle's desk was a boy; but as he walked closer and the person turned her profile to him, he could identify the soft rounded edges of her cheeks. 

Her hair was shorn close to her scalp and she had no curves whatsoever, different from some of the girls that trained under Master Skywalker. Ben had never ogled women like some of the other boys did, but he could appreciate a nice chest and behind discreetly or in the privacy of his hut where he could enter an anonymous navigation mode and search for sensual holovids in his outdated datapad. 

"Ben," his uncle's voice sharply brought him back to the moment. He felt his cheeks burn momentarily, ashamed of his own thoughts. "I want you to meet Rey." He gestured to the girl with his robotic hand, sunlight streaming through the window behind him making the metal shine.

Ben turned to the newcomer, taking her in. 

"Hi," he said curtly. 

She didn't say anything, just sat there and looked up at him with suspicion in her eyes. Uncle Luke cleared his throat, making both of them snap their heads in his direction. 

"As you know, Ben, the Jedi Temple is currently filled with Force sensitive individuals," he said in an explanatory tone, more to Rey's understanding than his own. "We have no available rooms or sleeping pads for Rey." 

Ben nodded. The kids and initial years padawans were kept in rooms inside the Jedi Temple, where they'd have the protection of Luke and the other Masters if an attack were to happen. Older padawans like Ben, almost ready to become Jedi Knights, slept in wooden huts conglomerated a ways down the hill where the Jedi Temple stood proudly. 

"But we will not turn our backs on new Force sensitive kids, and a batch of our older padawans will complete their training soon enough, opening space for our younger padawans to move into the huts, consequently opening room for Rey with the initial years crowd," Luke sailed on, Ben could already feel where this was going but decided to keep his mouth shut for now. Rey was tense in her chair, looking down at her hands as if they were the most interesting subject in the entire galaxy. 

"Which means that the proposition I have for you will not last for long, Ben." His uncle concluded, a smooth smile taking over his features. 

"Yes, Master?"

"Rey is to stay with you while we wait for room to open inside the Jedi Temple, it will not be too long as you well know our senior class of padawans will complete their training by the end of the standard year." 

Ben shot a quick glance in Rey's direction, she had her shoulders hunched forward almost like she was trying to shrunk herself in size. 

"I wonder if she wouldn't be more comfortable sharing a hut with another girl?" Ben told his uncle, thinking about some of the girls that slept in the huts. 

"They all share already, I'm afraid the only hut with an empty cot is yours." 

_I wonder why_ , he thought snarkily. 

Ben sighed, feeling his shoulders drop. It is true that he isn't the most sociable student in his uncle's Jedi Temple, but he was not actively trying to push people away. The other students distanced themselves first and Ben simply didn't have the time or energy to go after friendships that didn't make an effort to reach out to meet him in the middle. 

He also had a reputation. 

"Fine," he said, squaring his shoulders. "I don't have much choice." 

His uncle narrowed his eyes, but they softened as soon as he turned his attention to Rey, who was still trying her best to shrink in size. "We're glad to have you amongst our ranks, Rey." 

She mumbled something under her breath, but Ben couldn't quite make it out.

"You can go with Ben now," Luke said, smiling in that approachable way that had many young padawans at ease as soon as they arrived in the Jedi Temple. Rey's apathetic expression, however, told Ben she wasn't as pacified as some of her younger peers would have been when faced with that smile. 

She stood up and moved to his side, she reached his shoulders in height and kept her eyes cast down. Master Luke cleared his throat, grabbing his attention before they could turn and leave the room. "Ben, would you meet with me after dinner?" 

Ben nodded, then turned around and opened the door so he and Rey could leave his uncle's office. He looked around her for any belongings, some kids brought packs or small objects with them, but Rey appeared to have only the clothes on her back. Which were composed by dirty and worn rags haphazardly wrapped around her torso, pants that looked too short on her as if they belonged to a smaller version of herself, and boots that had seen better days. 

He turned his nose up at that ensemble, she didn't smell good too. Ben was certain she needed a shower and new clothes as soon as possible, one of the Masters in the Jedi Temple would see to it, but for now he'd escort her to his hut and show her the cot she'd be sleeping on. Then, he would take her straight to the showers. 

Rey followed him in silence, she didn't seem to be overly curious about her surroundings for she kept her eyes down instead of wandering about the place cataloguing every new thing. He could feel she was uncomfortable, that much was a given and he didn't need the Force to tell him that. Her shoulders were slumped forward and she walked with small, calculated steps as if she was waiting for the worst to come and wanted to be ready for it. 

When they reached his hut, he made sure to keep the door behind them open so as to not make her more uncomfortable and also because her scent was much worse in the closed, limited space of the wooden hut. 

"That's where I sleep," he said, pointing to his cot pushed to one corner of the rounded hut. There was a small table next to it, a little stool tucked under the dark wooden surface and writing utensils resting atop it. 

The cot was on a small wooden dais on the floor, there was only a thin sheet to cover himself with at night but that wasn't a problem for him since he didn't feel cold very often. When the weather was chilly, they could request warmer blankets from the Masters in the Jedi Temple, but Ben was satisfied with what he got. 

He turned to the other corner of the hut, where an empty cot lay alongside a small table and stool twin to his own. He'd never given much thought to the empty side of his hut, he never thought he'd need to worry about it in the first place. Until now. 

Ben was very aware that he'd taken the pillow from that cot to hump against when the nights were chilly and he was feeling achingly alone, after a particularly spicy holovid or simply because he wanted to quiet his thoughts. He would change the pillows later, not wanting Rey to rest her head where his cock had rubbed against so many times. 

"That's yours." He pointed, trying to keep the blush off his face. 

Rey stared at the cot, hands hanging by the side of her body. 

Ben walked further into the hut, patting one single large chest located squarely in the middle of the space and pushed against the wall. "This is where I keep my robes, I will try to open a little room for you." 

She nodded, looking away. 

"We should get you to someone who'll give you new clothes and some soap for a shower," he said, walking back towards where she was standing. "I'll show you to the bathrooms." 

___

Rey stood in Ben's hut with shame consuming her body. 

She knew she didn't smell like desert flowers or the gentle breeze of summer, and the way he'd scrunched his nose at her when they'd walked out of Master Skywalker's office told her everything she needed to know about her current state. 

It was modifying. Especially since he looked impeccably put together, even with his longer hair, there was not a single strand astray whereas she'd had to have her head shaved as soon as she arrived in the Jedi Temple because of a lice infestation. 

She felt wholly inadequate. Completely out of place, like a fish in the desert. 

These kids had been here for much longer than she, when Master Skywalker gave her a tour earlier she saw children as young as she was when she had been abandoned in Jakku already holding practice wooden swords and swinging them around with precision. 

All she knew what to do was swing her staff, which had been confiscated back in Jakku when she tried to hit the scouts that'd found her in the AT-AT she called home. And even that she had learned by herself through trial and error, not because someone had guided her movements and taught her how to fight.

Learning she was Force sensitive wasn't as much of a surprise as it probably should be, Rey knew there was something different about her. Alone, she'd survived nine years in the desert and would have kept surviving if the scouts hadn't found her. And she felt things, a bad feeling sometimes that burrowed deep into her soul and kept her from stepping on a loose piece of metal in the ruins of a starship back in Jakku, strange dreams that would become reality or even the easiness with which she picked up new languages. There was also that one time she'd fought off a thief double her size alone and felt an energy rushing through her, keeping her safe. 

The Force, as Master Luke clarified earlier in their talk, had been responsible for all those experiences. 

Looking back to her experiences in Jakku now, she could identify many other moments where the Force had been present even without her knowing about it. 

And now she was there to learn how to yield it, but she couldn't help feeling lesser than the kids who had been there before her. She couldn't help but feel like she was intruding in a place she didn't belong. 

She followed after Ben silently as he guided her back to the Jedi Temple, where he procured a female Master to help her "get settled", which she supposed was his polite way of saying "take a shower and change out of your rags, desert rat". 

A petite Mirialan female named Sivu smiled fondly at Rey when Ben appeared with her by his side. He bid both of them goodbye and walked away, leaving her alone with the strange woman. 

"Come, let's get you some clothes." 

Rey was guided into a smaller room where several shelves appeared to stock folded robes of various colors. Master Sivu took three bundles off the shelves after sizing Rey up, then deposited them on her hands. They were light colored, like the color of sand when the sun was baking it with its rays. 

"I suppose you need undergarments too?" Master Sivu offered, raising one eyebrow. Rey felt her cheeks heat, she had never thought to ask…

"Hey," as if sensing her discomfort, the woman put a hand on Rey's shoulder and squeezed. "It's all right, everyone needs these things." 

Heaving out a loaded breath, trying her hardest not to cry, Rey nodded. She felt so humiliated, like a stain in the pristine walls of this Temple. Unworthy of her place there, even after Master Skywalker had tried to pacify her worries earlier. 

Master Sivu gave her a couple of undergarments and wraps for a breastband, then awkwardly walked her to the bathrooms where she could take a shower. 

With water. 

Rey looked at the shower cubicles lined against the wall, then back at the Master who was watching her with barely disguised curiosity. 

"You can go ahead," Master Sivu said. "There's plenty of water around here." 

And that's what Rey couldn't wrap her head around. Where she came from water was a precious resource, only the richest amongst them had it in abundance, every day she slaved away in the ship ruins to scavenge parts so she could trade them for rations and water at the end of the day. She'd grown up learning to save water, even the smallest of drops, because it was such a rare and precious thing. 

Now she was expected to bathe in it. 

"I'll leave you to it." Rey turned to watch Master Sivu leave, closing the door to the bathroom behind her. 

Rey was alone in the room. Just her, the bundle of clothes in her arms, and the shower cubicles. 

She walked toward one of the cubicles, depositing her new clothes in a stool next to the one. Then, she stepped off her old clothes and dropped them on the floor. The wraps binding her breast were tight and it was a relief to get rid of them, she didn't wear any underwear. 

The shower cubicle was small and narrow with a panel of buttons in one wall to control the water pressure, she supposed. Rey clicked some buttons, getting slapped in the face with powerful jets, then clicked some others and finally found a comfortable water pressure and temperature to shower in. 

It still felt a bit surreal that she was washing herself with water. She'd only ever washed herself in sonic showers back in Jakku, and only when she had the special chip every once in a while used to pay for a shower at Niima Outpost. 

She went to wash her hair, but her hands found only the buzz of her new haircut. Rey wasn't sentimental about her hair, but it still felt strange not to have it sitting atop her head, especially when she'd been used to gathering it in three buns at the back of her head...the same hairstyle her mother had done on her all those years ago.

There were tubes of hair and body wash in a nook on the shower cubicle's wall, she took them one by one and sniffed, finding the scent pleasant even if it was very artificial. Rey squirted a good portion of hair wash on her hand and scrubbed her scalp with it, loving the feel of the grime and lice eggs being washed away. Then, she scrubbed her body down with the body wash finding there was sand caked between the folds of her body, like the elbows, knee joints and under her armpits. 

After she felt decently clean, like she'd never felt before, she pressed a button on the panel that read "dry" and gusts of warm hair started blowing from holes in the walls. It wasn't unpleasant, more like a very strong and warm wind blowing on her, but she'd grown up on a desert planet and was used to that feeling. A couple of moments went by and the wind stopped on its own, then she stepped outside the shower cubicle completely dry and began putting on the underwear she'd been given and the wraps for her breastband. 

Her new clothes felt soft and fit her very loosely, which she liked. Rey grabbed her things, including her old, dirty clothes, and stepped outside the bathroom where Ben was waiting for her sitting on a low stool. 

"Hey," he said. 

She felt something weird in her tummy. Hunger, probably. 

"I can get rid of those for you?" He pointed at the old clothes she'd been holding in one hand. 

Rey nodded, handing him the rags. "Thanks," she forced out, whisper-like. She wasn't even sure he heard it. 

He offered a small smile. "I'll show you to the mess hall now, you must be hungry." 

She remembered that weird feeling in her tummy, then nodded. Her eyes were glued to Ben's broad back as they walked toward the mess hall, she knew she should probably be memorizing the corridors and the paths he was taking her through, but all she could think about was how other students seemed to give him a wide berth whenever they crossed paths with another padawan (as Master Skywalker had called them). 

Rey wondered why Ben's was the only hut with an available cot. Was she about to share her space with a bully? Did people avoid him for a reason? 

As they walked into the mess hall, she could feel eyes settling on their odd pair and it made her feel even more self conscious. Ben strode purposefully to table in the corner and sat on it, apart from everyone else. 

She followed right after. 

"Over there," he pointed to a table in the far corner of the room, where a collection of padawans were gathering food and placing it on their plates. 

Rey nodded, getting the meaning of his words. She turned and went to that table, the closer she got the more she could see the arrangement of foods displayed. It all looked delicious, so many colors and interesting shapes and scents, a far cry from the veg-meat she ate back in Jakku. 

After grabbing an empty plate and filling it with food she saw many padawans gravitate towards, she went back to where Ben was seated and plopped on the seat across from him. 

"Good picks," he said, looking at her plate. 

She followed his gaze to the collection of proteins and carbohydrates on her plate. "It smells good." 

His head snapped up, eyes widening for a fraction before he recomposed his features into a cool and collected expression. She realized then, that she hadn't spoken to him yet asides from the whispered thanks he probably didn't even hear after her shower. 

Ben cleared his throat. "I think I'll leave you to it now," he said, pushing up from the table. "Those girls at the end of the table keep glancing at you." 

Rey discreetly took a peek at them, at the far end of the long table, and sure enough they kept murmuring to themselves and throwing looks her way. She felt uncomfortable, like the odd man out. 

"Don't worry." Ben's deep voice reassured her, bringing her eyes back to his strangely endearing face. "They're probably curious about you." 

She looked down at her food, pursing her lips in annoyance. Why couldn't people just leave her alone? She didn't need unwanted attention to herself. 

Ben gave her a wave, then turned to leave. As soon as he was out of the mess hall, the girls sitting at the end of the table scurried to where she was sitting at. 

"Can we sit here?" One of them said, eyes bright and innocent. 

Rey nodded. 

"Cool," another one added. "Nice to meet you…?" 

"Rey," she offered. 

"Pretty name." A girl with lekku said with a genuine smile. 

She answered with a small smile of her own. The girls started asking questions, which Rey answered without any problem, and then they filled her in on the local gossip, giggling whenever one of the girls pointed at a crush. 

Rey felt her guard go down, surprised that it had been fairly easy for these strange girls to make her feel welcome in their little gang. 

Maybe she wouldn't be the odd man out for long. And maybe, just maybe, she would learn to feel at home at the Jedi Temple. 

___

Ben got rid of her clothes by leaving them in the trash disposer, she wouldn't be needing them again. Then, he made his way back to his hut. 

It was only midday, so he still had a lot of time to kill before dinner and subsequently his meeting with Master Skywalker. He wondered what his uncle had to say to him, but didn't dwell much on it for fear to attract dark thoughts. 

Lately, they'd been easier to flit into his mind and harder to leave. He wasn't proud to admit that his uncle and their relationship was on shaky ground, and the fights they had recently were provoked by Ben's own instability and dark tendencies. 

His uncle had recommended more time spent on meditation, which Ben had followed because he didn't like the version he became when the cold grip of the dark side wrapped around his throat. 

Arriving at his hut, he remembered to change the pillows at once, cheeks heating just thinking about what he'd done to that pillow so many times. He'd also have to change the pillowcase, which was probably caked in dry seed. But before he did anything, he needed to meditate for one hour or so to keep his Force energy clear and strong. 

As soon as he sat down in his cot and assumed a meditative position, flashes of the new girl's face came into his mind. He frowned, annoyed at his brain for being distracted. 

Rey had looked much better after the shower, not to mention her smell had vastly improved as well. She looked good in the padawan clothes, her cheeks slightly pink from the drying steam. 

She had looked uncomfortable when he left her alone in the mess hall, but he knew he couldn't hover over her, especially if she were to make friends. People wouldn't approach her if he was there too, so he'd chosen to step aside and trusted that group of girls to walk Rey through everything she needed to know about the Jedi Temple. 

Moving his thoughts away from her, Ben started to work on his breathing pattern and applied some meditation techniques to slow down for a bit and connect with the Force. 

It was easy to slip into a meditative state, but it had not always been. He could still remember the first few lessons he'd had with Master Skywalker, how hard it had been to quiet his mind and sit still when he was nothing but a child. 

But now it came easily to him, like the air streaming in and out of his lungs. 

It didn't take long for a vision to disturb him. But it wasn't a dark vision, on the contrary, it was light and carefree, flitting through his consciousness like the wings of a butterfly, gently but fast. 

Rey was there, in the vision, and her smile was blinding, as was the light in her eyes. Her hair was longer, kept half in a bun and half down past her shoulders. She twirled a lightsaber in her hand, yellow like the sunlight coloring the entire scene. 

When he opened his eyes, he felt his eyebrows creasing. What was that all about? 

Checking the time in his datapad, he realized he'd only meditated for a couple of minutes, so he promptly went back to it and this time no visions came forth. 

___

The girls were nice. Asha, Melaine and Zehla. Rey learned that they had been together since their arrival at the Jedi Temple, and were close to being transferred to the huts that Master Skywalker had mentioned only the older padawans lived in. 

Rey wondered where those padawans went after they'd finished their training. Were they kicked out of their huts and expected to make a life for themselves elsewhere? If so, that sounded cruel to say the least. 

Asha wanted to show Rey the training grounds, and so they'd gone from the mess hall to the open fields where some lessons were taking place. She watched from afar as some kids perhaps a couple years younger than her were sparring with training lightsabers, according to Asha. 

"If you get hit by the blade you won't die or have an arm amputated," said Melaine in an educational tone. "They just cause bruises and welts, in some cases minor burns." 

Zehla lifted the sleeve of her tunic, showing a purple bruise. "I got this during the last training session." 

"Naru got you good, didn't he?" Asha said, lifting her eyebrows suggestively. 

Zehla rolled her eyes, bringing her sleeve down once more. "Shut up, Ash." 

"Ze's got a crush on Naru," Melaine told Rey in a conspiratorial voice. Zehla protested, but Melaine kept going. "He's cute, I guess, but I don't think he's into females at all." 

"You shouldn't assume these things about other people, Mel," Zehla said, clearly annoyed by her friend's words. "You're fifteen, right?" She turned her blue eyes on Rey, changing the subject expertly. 

"Yes." 

"You're in our age group, then," Asha said, smiling. 

"But she'll probably need to have classes with the younglings," Melaine pointed out with a sympathetic glance Rey's way. "Unless you get private lessons, but the Masters are already so overworked." 

"We could try to help though," Zehla offered, putting her hands on her hips. "We're not Masters, but we're also not fresh meat like the younglings." 

"You're right," Asha agreed, throwing a glance at the padawans sparring in the distance. "I think we should talk to Master Skywalker about it." 

"You barely know me." Rey felt her voice cracking under emotion, she couldn't believe these girls she'd just met were planning to help her. 

She'd never had help before. In Jakku, every scavenger was after their own gain, if they had to steal from someone else to guarantee their own survival then so be it. Rey was used to that mindset. 

"You seem nice." Melaine shrugged, as if that was enough of a reason to explain why she was willing to spend some of her free time to help a girl she'd just met.

"And you'll need help settling in," Zehla added, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

"Plus, there are so few girls our age in here," Asha said, rolling her eyes, "you were a much welcome arrival." 

Rey smiled with bleary eyes. "Thank you, girls." 

They smiled back.

___

At dinner, Ben could see Rey was getting along with that group of girls from lunch. Two Keshiri females and one Togruta, her lekku shorter than some of the older individuals of her species which were closer to finishing their training. 

He hoped Rey remembered where their hut was, because he didn't want to spoil her newfound friendships by intruding in their conversation. 

Plus, he needed to meet with Master Skywalker anyway.

He finished his food quickly, not having anyone to talk to and slow down his ingestion, then made his way to his uncle's office where he could feel his Force signature inside. It was amazing how Master Skywalker would almost always be found in his office, he wondered if he slept in there from time to time. 

Ben knocked on the door, waiting for a reply. 

"Come in, Ben." 

He entered, closing the door behind him and offering his uncle a "Good evening," before moving to one of the chairs positioned across from his desk. 

"How is she?" Master Skywalker said before Ben's ass was fully touching the chair's seat. 

"Rey?" 

The older man nodded, stroking his bearded chin with his robotic hand. 

"Making friends, apparently." 

Master Skywalker smiled. "That's good." 

"Is that why you asked me to come?" Ben asked, adjusting himself on the chair. His legs were too long for the small space between the chair and the desk. 

"In part, yes." His uncle leaned against the back of his chair, the material creaking under his weight. "Rey's a special girl, Ben. I could feel it as soon as she entered this office." 

Ben kept quiet, knowing his uncle was prone to digressions in his speech often. Sure enough, he went on: "I don't know why it took us so long to find her, but I'm glad we did." 

"I'm glad she was found too." And the funny thing is that Ben was being honest. He truly was glad that Rey had found their way to them, this way she could be trained and reach her full potential. 

His vision came forth for a millisecond, of the smiling woman twirling a yellow lightsaber. 

"But she's still too old to be put in the younglings' lessons." Ben frowned at that. 

"So she won't be trained?" 

Master Skywalker shook his head. "That's not what I meant." 

"Then what?" 

"Well, I was thinking you could help guide her first steps in the Force." Ben simply stared at his uncle's face for a while. He had to be joking.

"But I'm not finished with my training yet." Was his measly excuse, he could feel panic grip his heart in an icy embrace. 

"That doesn't mean you haven't mastered the early concepts every youngling needs to wrap their heads around when they first start learning about the Force," his uncle answered. 

"Master Skywalker, I'm not the right choice for this task." 

"Aren't you?" His uncle's eyes were so different from his mother's, blue where hers were brown, but right then he possessed the same shrewdness he could only find in Leia Organa's gaze. "You've been trained longer than anyone in this Jedi Temple has, Ben. The only reason why you haven't finished your training yet is because you let your fear hold yourself back." 

"I _don't_." 

Master Skywalker's eyes shone bright. "There it is," he said. "The fear you keep pushing down." 

"I'm not afraid of anything!" 

" _Yes_ , you are." 

He could feel darkness creeping close, swirling inside his chest looking for a way in. If he allowed it, that darkness would come crashing in, like it had before...and...and...he was _afraid_ of it. 

Ben slumped down in his seat. 

"Don't let it control you, Ben." 

His eyes snapped up, meeting his uncle's which were spilling over with sympathy. "What if it happens again?" 

Master Skywalker smiled, a wise smile that seemed to occult many things. "I have a feeling you won't allow that to happen." 

"I don't know if I can be what she'll need," he confessed, avoiding his uncle's eyes once more. "I can't be _you_." 

He heard his uncle, his first Master, get up from his chair and walk around his desk. Then, Ben felt his hand close around his shoulder. 

"Is that what burdens you, Ben?" His voice was soft, gentle. "Do you feel that you have some legacy to live up to?" 

Ben said in bitter tones, "How could I not feel that way?" 

" _Ben_ ," Master Skywalker exhaled loudly, kneeling beside him. "The only one asking you to live up to a legacy is yourself." 

"I know." Ben closed his eyes, shaking his head. "It's hard to break away from it." 

"So that's your mission," Master Skywalker said. "Break away from the fears that hold you back, and grow beyond them." 

"What about Rey?" Ben asked, bringing the topic of conversation back to the girl. 

"Help her." 

"I can't do it alone," he warned, feeling doubt creep back in. 

"Who said you'll be alone?" And, as if on cue, there was a knock on the door. 

The Keshiri girl who had been at lunch and dinner with Rey poked her head in. "Master Skywalker, can I have a word?" 

His uncle smiled. "Of course, Asha, come inside." 

She threw Ben a suspicious look. 

"Don't mind Ben, he was on his way out." 

He threw his uncle a look, but the man was no longer looking at him, his attention was all on the girl now. Holding back a sigh, Ben stood up and left with a mumbled goodbye. 

The older his uncle got the less sense he made.

  
  



End file.
